Another book review..."Complicity" by Iain Banks.

Iain Banks is a contemporary author of Scottish background, who manages to write both regular (albeit plot-driven) fiction and science fiction (he adds his middle initial, "M", when writing SF.)

I've just finished reading Complicity, which originally was published in 1993, and follows two characters - one a self-described Hunter S Thompson journalist disciple who writes for an Edinburgh newspaper (written in the first person), the other an anonymous serial killer (written in the second-person).

The journalist, Cameron Colley, tends to write muckraking pieces that expose hypocrisy and moral and ethical bankruptcy on the part of large companies or wealthy people. Like his idol, he also indulges in drink, smoke, and harder pleasures; carries on a torrid illicit affair; and, somewhat strangely, also is hooked on video games. The description of his day-to-day life in Edinburgh is filled with details that seem right for the setting (1993). Interestingly, although it isn't a main element of the book, he definitely captures the direction that computing was heading, even in that pre-web time, which makes this read more like a contemporary novel set in 1993 rather than an artifact of that year.

The serial killer, on the other hand, is left quite mysterious...except he seems to target the same people that Cameron writes about. Cameron and the serial killer are headed on a collision course, as the murders seem to implicate Cameron.

Iain Banks is a very readable author - he draws deft characters and gives them interesting and realistic dialogue to speak, fills his scenes with plausible details, and despite the unlikable elements of both main characters, gives them enough sympathy that you care about them and drives you to finish the book. The plot is well-written, and the story skillfully alternates between the present Cameron, flashbacks of Cameron's life, and the serial killer.

All in all, I liked this book a lot, and would recommend it to readers of mysteries or thrillers without hesitation.

If you haven't read Banks before, I'd definitely check him out, with or without the M - and this book is a fine place to start.